Just like new ~

Last week, at a raffle to support speakers for my gardening group, I found this little basket. It had gone unnoticed and when I got a chance I snapped it up. It is so cute. The handle and the rim are silver and in okay condition but almost all of the finish had chipped off the fluted glass body.

This was the perfect opportunity to try something I have wanted to do for a long time, use Krylon Looking Glass paint to create a faux mercury glass finish.

It was so quick and easy to do, there are lots of tutorials on Pinerest. Essentially, just spray the interior with the paint, let dry, mist it with a mixture of equal parts water and vinegar, then depending on how much texture you want you daub it with a paper towel before the solution dries. The solution removes some of the paint giving you that distressed mercury glass look.

Voila! 

I was able to blend what was left of the original finish with the new paint.

 Before and after.

Here I have used it as a vase, but it is going to be cachepot...I never seem to have enough pretty containers for my indoor plants. 

Just think of all the holiday decorations you could make next year and it also comes in gold,

Thank you for visiting

Orphan furniture ~

Every once in a while when I am out walking or driving, I come across a 

 piece of furniture that someone has put out at the curb with the trash. I call this, orphan furniture.

I don't always bring it home, but some times it is too good to pass up.

Such as with this chair.

It is an orphan and a very pathetic one, I came across it a few days ago. You can see the stuffing and springs falling out of the bottom and it is badly in need of refinishing. Sadly the needlepoint upholstery like the rest of the chair has been allowed to deteriorate. I think it will impossible to restore it but, depending on how hard it is to remove I just might try to have it dry cleaned and put back on.

 The construction is still solid and after

 stripping, refinishing, and reupholstering I think it will once again be a very attractive chair; it has classic lines and lovely carved details.

I really like finding furniture orphans, they seem to have more character and charm. The chair below was one... 

as so was this chair...

and this chair, which is featured in my header.

When I was a child I was always bringing home stray dogs, now I seem to be bringing home stray furniture. 

When this is completely refurbished I will share the results with you. Wish me luck because it is 

going to be a lot of work, but I definitively think it's worth it...poor little chair.

Have you rescued any furniture orphans lately?

Thank you for visiting.

Which one would you pick ~

This week my gardening group is having fund-raiser to help pay for our speakers throughout the year. I mulled over several ideas of things that I could make to bring in to raffle off

and...

decided to make tea cozies!

One of my first blog posts was on how to make a tea cozy, so this is rather like returning to an old friend.

I wanted each one to be a little unique to appeal to different tastes and color schemes.

Roses trimmed with stripes...

a sunny yellow print...combined with hand crocheted lace...

and lastly, wisteria and roses embellished with lavender ribbon.

Which one would you pick?

As for me, I rather like them all.

Thank you for visiting.

I hope you have a cozy, charming day.

Happy Valentine's Day ~

Room with a view ~

The past week has been a busy one filled with wonderful family milestones and celebrations, including an engagement party. So in lieu of a longer post I am sharing this photo with you of my beautiful, blooming magnolia tree taken from the frontroom window. 

You can see why I call this a room with a view.

I hope you have a happy, bloom filled day!

Valentine herb wreath ~

I have seen some examples of pretty little valentine shaped herb wreaths on Pinterest and I thought it would be fun to make one to put in the kitchen for Valentines Day.

For the greenery I used rosemary and lavender from the garden, perfect as they both dry well and smell wonderful, but there are lots of other choices...boxwood, lambs ears, sage or thyme for example.

Now to work...

I cut some stems, made a little heart shape wreath form out of  construction wire and fastened the herbs onto the form with very fine craft wire. For a little embellishment I added some red fabric roses and a red ribbon to hang the wreath from.

Voila!

Very simple and very easy.

I hung it on the door of the corner cabinet in my kitchen. This is where I display some of my smaller crystal and silver pieces. My father made the leaded glass door for me.

Now when I walk into the kitchen I notice the slight fragrance of the herbs. 

Just a subtle and nice way to celebrate Valentines Day. 

Wishing you lots of love and romance in your life all the days of the year.

Thank you for visiting